Monday, February 01, 2010

Who dat?

While I lived in New Orleans, there was a really hilarious sportscaster named Buddy Diliberto. Once, he announced that if the Saints ever went to the Superbowl, he would parade down Bourbon Street in a dress.

Diliberto died in 2005.

For the first time in 42 years, the Saints are headed to the Super Bowl, and few days ago, 80,000 people kept Bobby's promise. For a city famous for parades, the results aren't visually impressive. But it moved me to see so many having a great time doing something ridiculous for the team they love.

When I lived in New Orleans, I didn't like it. I felt like it was an insulated community and if you hadn't been born there, you didn't matter to anybody. I was honestly happy to leave. But between Hurricane Katrina and the Saints going to the Superbowl, I've come to realize that the place really got under my skin. New Orleans still matters to me.

The economy sucks, Haiti is still a mess and we don't have universal healthcare so it is probably stupid to care about football.

1 comment:

And I haven't forgotten that Baltimore stole the Colts from Miami... or that after they folded, Baltimore then stole the Texans- including the blue and white team colors- from Dallas, and renamed them Colts... or that when the Colts left in the middle of the night- because the city was going to sieze the team by eminent domain in the morning- Baltimore then stole the Browns from Cleveland (Although the NFL made them give the name back)

I really am glad that Nawlins made it to the Super Bowl; they were my second choice all along from the NFC. (Second only because I wanted to see a Manning V Manning Super Bowl!) I've only spent two weeks there, but I loved it. (might have been different had I actually lived there, but who knows) The Saints have done so much for that town, and have had such a miraculous season; there's nobody more deserving. And New Orleans loves them in return; they'll still be heroes there even after they lose.

Interesting bit of trivia- did you know that the Saints were the other team in the running to come to Indy? Had Baltimore been more reasonable, and New Orleans less so, this Super Bowl might have been the Indianapolis Saints V Baltimore Colts!